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SAP Basis

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ADM100 Lesson: Appendix - Advanced User Administration Topics<br />

Directory services allow various applications in an IT landscape to access<br />

shared information at a central location. The information is stored on a<br />

central directory server that the various systems of your IT landscape can<br />

access. In this way, the directory server acts as an “IT address book” for<br />

information that is usually used in common, such as personnel data (name,<br />

department, organization), user data, and information about system<br />

resources and system services. You can use directory services to maintain<br />

information in <strong>SAP</strong> systems for directory-compatible applications (such as<br />

user administration or Business Workplace). The standardized Lightweight<br />

Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is usually used as the access protocol.<br />

Directory services provide a central information and administration<br />

point and therefore simple shared information usage between various<br />

applications. Your <strong>SAP</strong> system can exchange data with directory services<br />

using the LDAP protocol. You specify the synchronization direction for<br />

each field, that is, whether the <strong>SAP</strong> system overwrites the data in the<br />

directory, or the directory overwrites the data in the <strong>SAP</strong> system.<br />

The <strong>SAP</strong> system can exchange data with directory services from various<br />

vendors. The <strong>SAP</strong> system may require attributes that are not in the<br />

standard schemata of the directories. <strong>SAP</strong> usually provides a schema<br />

extension for this purpose.<br />

Note: As of <strong>SAP</strong> Web AS 6.10, <strong>SAP</strong> systems can easily connect to a<br />

directory service. It was possible to connect to a directory service<br />

before <strong>SAP</strong> Web AS 6.10, although rather more effort was involved.<br />

Hint: A connection to a directory service can extend a Central User<br />

Administration. That is, these two concepts are in no way mutually<br />

exclusive, but rather work together very well.<br />

The topic of central directory services/LDAP is dealt with in detail in <strong>SAP</strong><br />

course ADM102 - <strong>SAP</strong> Web AS Administration II.<br />

2003/Q3 © 2003 <strong>SAP</strong> AG. All rights reserved. 443

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